adjective · rare

ghastly

ghastly · ghastlier · ghastliest

жахливий, огидний

страшный, ужасный

grässlich, gespenstisch, geisterhaft, haarsträubend

Like a ghost in appearanceLike a ghost in appearance; death-like; pale; pallid; dismal.

ⓘ

UK/ˈɡɑːs(t).li/US/ˈɡæs(t).li/

» What's taking place here is ghastly.

Meaning

3 senses

Like a ghost in appearance; death-like; pale; pallid; dismal.
geisterhaft
Horrifyingly shocking.
grässlich, gespenstisch, haarsträubend
ужа́сныйužásnyj, стра́шныйstrášnyj
(colloquial, dated)Extremely bad.
The play was simply ghastly.
schauderhaft, furchtbar
отврати́тельныйotvratítelʹnyj

More definitions

shockingly repellent; inspiring horror
gruesomely indicative of death or the dead

Examples

14 sentences

What's taking place here is ghastly.
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What a ghastly sight!
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What a ghastly place!
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What a ghastly idea!
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What a ghastly smell!
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Translations

7 languages

Русский

By meaning 2

horrifyingly shocking:

extremely bad:

Deutsch

By meaning 3

Like a ghost in appearance; death-like; pale; pallid:

horrifyingly shocking:

extremely bad:

Origin

From a conflation of gastly, from Middle English gastly, from gasten (from Old English gǣs

From a conflation of gastly, from Middle English gastly, from gasten (from Old English gǣstan (“to torment, frighten”)) + -ly, and ghostly (which was also spelt gastlich in Middle English). Equivalent to ghast/gast + -ly. Spelling with gh developed in the 16th century due to the conflation.

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